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American dream will be elusive for Oregon teens without financial savvy: Editorial Agenda 2014

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At a 2011 rally, a Portland State University graduate burns a copy of his diploma after telling the crowd about his heavy student debt. The high cost of college and an unforgiving economic landscape underscore the importance of teaching teenagers about managing their money and avoiding bad debt.
(Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian)

Most people in Oregon learn about personal finance eventually. Maybe when they're 40 and lugging a suitcase full of debt. Or when they turn 55, and they realize they should have started saving for retirement three decades ago.

These are expensive lessons for anyone to learn in middle age, and they're unaffordable for young people now graduating into an economy where pensions are rare and incomes don't always keep up with the cost of living. Bottom line? Every high school in Oregon should make personal finance education a priority, both as part of the required social studies curriculum and as an elective course for deeper learning.

Developing this financial savvy isn't just about "consumer education." It builds students' lifetime resilience against predatory lending and other scams. It shows young people how to set aside money for retirement even when they change jobs frequently. And it acknowledges a central reality of the modern economy: People who are not equipped to look out for themselves financially have very little chance of achieving the American dream.

The survey highlights the power of parental influence on financial savvy: Students whose parents work as bankers, engineers and in other skilled professions show much stronger money chops than their peers. This finding, in turn, underscores the heightened importance of personal finance education in Oregon's higher-poverty high schools. Teenagers who lack access to good financial advice -- in the classroom and at the kitchen table – are at higher risk of taking on bad debt or missing investment opportunities.

Oregon once required students to take a personal-finance class to earn a diploma. The state ditched that requirement in the late 1990s, which was a mistake. Now Oregon's slowly making up for lost time. The state Board of Education adopted new social studies standards in 2011, which include beefed-up, grade-by-grade requirements for financial literacy. And as high schools hire teachers and restore electives after years of cuts, many are adding classes in personal finance and business management to supplement their economics courses.

Oregon lawmakers and policy experts spend untold hours trying to solve big financial problems related to student loans, home mortgages, retirement savings and emergency lending. These problems often originate at the macro level and affect individuals in ways that are beyond their control, but let's be honest: Financial illiteracy plays a starring role in turning manageable household challenges into broad economic and social burdens. Helping more Oregon citizens become money-savvy by 18, rather than by 40 or 55, would pay off in more ways than one.